Are you an award winning Internal Communications professional or team?

This week I received a postcard from the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) promoting the IOIC Awards 2012 and calling for entries.

Having looked at the association’s website, it’s interesting to note how the awards have been remodeled to include strategy, people, writing, digital media channels and campaigns. There’s also the chance to highlight individual work as an internal comms ICon.

I think this is a sign of the times – the ‘traditional’ scope of the role Internal Communicators play within organisations is constantly shifting, and it looks like the IoIC has set out to recognise this fact.

So, in the words of the IoIC, if you ‘think your work is brilliant, or need to measure yourself against the best’, then why not take the opportunity to enter this year’s awards. There are now 39 different awards spread out across eight sections.

Over the years I’ve won six excellence awards from the association (formerly Communicators in Business) for various projects and channels and certainly recommend them. Getting feedback from judges is always a useful experience, particularly to have your work critiqued by people who are separate from your organisation and to help you improve your expertise.

“The IoIC Awards are not like other competitions,” explains awards chairman Paul Brasington. “We’re not here to make a profit, our only concern is to pick out best practice and hold it up to show what can be achieved. We’re interested in excellence because we want to help everyone achieve it.”

Every entry (except the ICons) will receive an individual constructive critique, written by experienced judges, to help you take your work forward.

What do I need to do?
If you’d like to enter the awards, you need to download the entry kit and ensure your entries are submitted by Friday 17 February.

When will the winners be known?The IoIC Awards dinner will be held at the Hilton Park Lane in London on 15 June. Best of luck!